News of the extended network of faculty, alumni, students, visiting researchers, and mission partners is regularly updated, and some of the big ideas or major events in Global Christianity are covered in the CGCM News.
Casely Essamuah’s (’03) interview at the WCC
"The first question the secretary of Global Christian Forum, Rev. Dr. Casely Baiden Essamuah, asks himself when he sits down at the table together with networking peers from different denominations is: “who is missing?""
Rev. Dr. Casely Baiden Essamuah ('03) recently gave an interview to WCC Communications and elaborated that plans were underway to hold a global gathering of the Forum in 2024 in Accra, Ghana. A memorandum of understanding was also signed between the Global Christian Forum and the World Council of Churches during his visit to Geneva.
Jean Luc Enyegue (’18) has published a new book – “Competing Catholicisms”
Alumnus Jean Luc Enyegue ('18) has published a new book - Competing Catholicisms: The Jesuits, the Vatican and the Making of Postcolonial French Africa. Dr. Enyegue is the director of The Jesuit Historical Institute in Africa. His recent interview on the book can be read here.
Alumnus Travis Myers (’15) joining the Faculty of LCC International University
Alumnus Travis Myers (2015) is soon joining the faculty of LCC International University in Klaipeda, Lithuania as Assistant Professor of Humanities in the core curriculum. He and his wife, Susan, are eager to share in the mission there of education for transformation through high-quality instruction and caring relationships with approximately 700 students from more than 50 countries. The non-denominational and ecumenical university’s connections with the Mennonite tradition are seen in a curricular emphasis on international relations and peacemaking. The campus has recently hosted Ukrainian refugee families.
Alumni Participate in China Christianity Studies Group Annual Meeting 2022
A range of participants, including alumni Anneke Stasson ('13) and Alex Mayfield ('21) attended the China Christianity Studies Group's 2022 annual meeting.
The meeting is now available to view here: youtu.be/5vhZNpKATxo.
Alumnus Titus Presler Appointed Executive Director of GEMN
The Rev. Canon Dr. Titus Presler ('95) has been selected as Executive Director of the Global Episcopal Mission Network.
Click here to read the full story.
Daryl Ireland and Eugenio Menegon’s visit to the L’Orientale University of Naples
Every year Boston University (BU) and the L’Orientale University of Naples (UNO) strengthen their partnership through the Faculty Exchange program. This year, Dr. Daryl Ireland, Associate Director of the CGCM, and Dr. Eugenio Menegon, Associate Professor of History at BU and a CGCM affiliate, went on a ten-day visit to Naples as part of the program.
Dr. Ireland and Dr. Menegon spent time exploring the Collegio d’Cinesi—the first school in Europe to teach Chinese. The archives, which now belong to UNO, hold rich resources. For much of the eighteenth century, Christianity was prohibited in China. Christians, therefore, came to Italy to be trained as priests and then returned home. Their letters back to their professors are an extraordinary window into what was happening in China at a time when Westerners were almost entirely absent. They also provide an amazingly rich description of the family, social, and economic networks that sustained fugitive priests.
One of the urgent issues that the UNO faculty were concerned about was the state of the archive – poor preservation had resulted in acidic paper being interspersed among the 300-year-old letters. The result? Items were crumbling. One of the reasons for Daryl Ireland and Eugenio Menegon's visit was for the UNO administration to hear from outsiders that the collection was rare and valuable. During a dinner with the Rector (president) of the University, they explained why those materials were important for understanding early modern Sino-Western relations. As a result, the University decided to set aside €40,000 to begin digitizing the archive.
Their visit also strengthened the partnership between BU and UNO. Last year, BU had five UNO students do a remote internship on BU’s NEH-award-winning project: “The China Historical Christian Database.” This visit had produced 10 more student interns for 2022, as well as lots of energy and excitement for the database itself after Dr. Ireland had presented it at a public lecture titled, “The Future of Sino-Western Relations is in its Past.”
In as much as both institutions gained through the visit - digitizing an archive and 1,500 intern hours – Ireland and Menegon's academic exchange with scholars in Italy was quite invigorating too. Everyone involved saw how the work at BU on the China Historical Christian Database could enrich their work, their ideas, and their questions.
Alumnus Daewon Moon (’18) Speaks at the Korean Lausanne Conference for Pastors and Mission Leaders
Dr. Daewon Moon, CGCM alumnus (’18), recently spoke on “The Lausanne Movement and World Christianity” at the Korean Lausanne Conference for pastors and mission leaders in the Daegu area. The conference was organized in order to promote and publicize the Fourth Lausanne Congress which will take place in South Korea in September 2024.
More than two hundred pastors and mission leaders gathered to learn the history and contribution of the Lausanne Movement in uniting evangelical Christians for holistic missions over the past five decades. Other speakers included Prof. Hyung-Keun Choi (Seoul Theological University) and Rev. Chulho Han (Vice-Chair of the Korean Lausanne Committee).
Dr. Moon has been involved in the Lausanne Movement since 2010 when he attended the Third Lausanne Congress in Cape Town, South Africa. He is an active member of the Lausanne Younger Leaders Group (YLG) and wrote an article on African Pentecostalism in the Lausanne Global Analysis.
Livestream of Dana Robert’s Inaugural Gerald H. Anderson Lecture – June 9, 2022
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June 9, 2022 | Wright Library Theron RoomAll are welcome to attend the inaugural Gerald H. Anderson Lecture, delivered by Dr. Dana Robert, the Truman Collins...
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African Association for the Study of Religions 2022 Virtual Conference
The African Association for the Study of Religions is thrilled to be gathering online this summer to hear extraordinary papers, keynotes, and celebrate the Association turning 30 years old! The virtual conference will take place June 26-27, 2022.
While the topics covered are heavily influenced by COVID-19, there will be a wide variety of addresses that will also explore the environment in crisis, constitutional crises, trauma in literature and film, gender, etc. You are warmly invited to join in on this joyous event.
To register, please click here.
To view the schedule, please click here.
Please note that there is no registration fee. However, your registration will not be approved unless you have paid this year’s AASR Membership fees. To pay membership fees, please visit www.a-asr.org and choose "Join Us."
If you have any questions, concerns, or need assistance along the way, please email the General Secretary, Nathanael Homewood, at njh2@rice.edu.